First, a word of thanks to you. We’ve been having an unusual number of leaders…aspiring and otherwise…coming to us and saying: My aunt, my dad, my vicarage supervisor, my friend, my pastor, etc., etc., told me to get connected with PLI. So, to all of you who have been inviting leaders into the PLI conversation and extending its wider influence… “Thank you!”
Second, please continue to pray for our international work! Scott and Lori Rische are finishing three weeks of mission oriented leadership training with teams in Uganda and Ethiopia. Once again, your relationships have helped open doors in Africa and elsewhere. Thank you.
Finally, Gail and I want to introduce our 1000 Young Leaders directors to you. Meet Phil and Kyrie Klopke.
So, here’s reality!
Without some intentionality churches just naturally get old. The loss of vision. The choices they make. Who they prioritize. It all leads to the disappearance of one generation and then the next and then eventually they find themselves one generation away from closing their doors.
Out of fairness, the world around our congregations has made it extremely difficult to contradict this natural tendency. It’s a challenging proposition today.
The statistics are daunting!
- The religious preference for over one third of millennials is “no religion.” None. And the numbers are growing rapidly among emerging adults!
- Today there are now four former Christians in the U.S. for every one new Christian.
- Only two in ten Americans under 30 believe attending church is important.
Increasingly, most emerging adults in most communities simply ignore our congregations and mark them as “irrelevant to my life”.
The future does not look like an extension of our past! And we don’t need to resign ourselves to demographic destinies.
The Spirit still works through the Word. Jesus is still Lord of the Church. Maybe it’s time to read the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles with fresh eyes and look for clues to creatively and boldly become a people that prays for and sends out workers into the harvest field.
Here’s more information on 1000 Young Leaders and an opportunity to find out more.
And, would you share this with someone(s) who needs to hear about this?
This is a fresh recognition that we are spirit and that the Holy Spirit can move in us anew and empower us to “live life to the full” as Jesus beckons all to be. I pray for an increase in this movement and count myself in God’s Mission.